Gundam Seed Destiny: A New Phase
by BareseCavaliere
Summary: Kira and gang must face their most deadly challenge yet...living in Northern New Jersy! That's right folks! Not New York! Not Philadelphia! Proud to be New Jersey!
1. Chapter 1

Many years have passed since the events of the Second Bloody Valentine. Yamato Kira, as a vow to put aside all aspects of war, has pledged himself never to climb into the cockpit of a mobile suit, unless of course to prevent another such catastrophe. Joined by Cline Lacus, Kira enjoys a life of peace and happiness as the adopted father of a number of orphans. His mother has welcomed into her extended family the new grandchildren, and dreams of the day that Kira and Lacus will present her with their own child. Still in frequent contact with Yula Athah Cagalli and Asuka Shinn, and his new in-law Zala Athrun, Kira's life has finally come full circle…that is, until a new dark force threatens the Earth, not from the planets, but from within.

Chapter 1: A new life in Northern New Jersey

Kira makes a break for the door with a cold sweat that is running down his face. _Please get me out this door before…._

"KIRA! Don't you dare leave me here without any help! Where do you think you're going!" _I can't believe that I once adored her voice!_ "I'm right here, Lacus! What is it dear?" Kira was obviously dreading this confrontation. Lacus came out of the kitchen. She had obviously gained some pounds since the war, as she was now tipping the scale at 250 lbs!

"Lacus, dear, please don't dress in those flowing outfits anymore. You're not as…." Kira gulped as he realized what he was about to say.

"Not as what? Not as thin? Not as attractive? Well not all of us can look so stunning with all of these orphans! With you always crying over everyone that died so many years ago, one of us has to pay the bills! And since my voice disappeared after I had my facelift, eating is the only thing I have left! Don't you dare start to cry on me!" Behind her wobbled an old, dented Haro with a rather sad sound in its voice.

"Haaaaaarah." _It can't even say 'Haro' anymore! That's Athrun's work for ya! Birdie totally went psycho and came down with robotic bird flu, and look at him now!_ Two robotic legs hung out of the mouth of a teething toddler.

"Fine, leave if you want! I don't care! I only stole a Gundam for you! You know, I once commanded a whole fleet!" Kira rolled his eyes. _It looks like you ate it afterwards!_ Running out the door, Kira slammed it behind him and jumped into his new hummer, which was painted black with flaming neon letters stenciled on the hood, spelling "Freedom!" along with a few skulls on the doors. Revving the engine, he made sure that his choker was on nice and neat and slammed on the gas. Hanging from around the rear-view mirror was a picture of Athrun and Kira, posing for a camera. Suddenly Kira found himself fondly recalling the time that Athrun gave him Birdie. Then he realized that a Volkswagen was cutting him off.

Across town, Athrun was in his backyard, grilling some burgers and ribs, dressed in a stained wife-beater and drinking some beer. He wore a faded apron that proudly displayed the sentence "Kiss the Coordinator." Suddenly, Athrun turned behind him and saw his neighbor in the yard next-door, yelling at him from across the fence.

"Yo, little Chiquita! Why donchoo put on a tee shirt or something? You look muy stupido with no muscles of your own!" Athrun fumed a little.

"Sir, if you'll kindly stop taunting me, I'd be happy to tell you that I was once a member of Zaft!" The man, whose name was Jorge, seemed little impressed.

"Dude! Seriously, you look worse than la chupacabra! You need a mad tan too, hombre! Put down that cerveza and come talk to me like a real hombre, no?" Athrun stayed where he was.

"Again, you really don't want to mess with me. I used to pilot a mobile suit!" Jorge reacted with little amusement. Now Jorge was a big man of proud Latino descent. Dangling from his neck was a gold chain with a New York Yankees symbol attached to it, and on his back was tattooed a huge picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In the background, you saw two little Puerto Rican children running around with the mother blasting Jennifer Lopez.

"José! Carlos! Come here and tell this guy what a real man is like!" Both boys immediately came over and mooned our Zaft hero. At this, Athrun became instantly angry, and suddenly went into seed-mode. The big problem here is that, without a mobile suit, this is rather useless.

"Eh Chiquita! What is that look in your ojos? José, Carlos, you stay away from the man in the pink apron, ok?" And with that, the argument was over…for la familia Rodriguez. Athrun stood there huffing louder.

"THIS ISN'T OVER! I bet your kids can't play the piano like Nicol! HE WAS ONLY 15! AND MY APRON IS NOT PINK! I'M BASED OFF OF CHAR AZNABLE!" To this, Jorge yelled back, "And Char was a metro too, no?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A Day in the Life of….

Feeling defeated by his hateful encounter with Jorge, Athrun continues on with his day of grilling fun. Wearing the basically a wife-beater and an apron that is…ahem…not pink, Athrun finds that he does not have the time to retaliate since guests are expected to arrive shortly. On the list of people _destined_ to show up are Kira and Shinn, Yzak Joule, Dearka Elsman, and possibly later on Lacus, along with Andrew Waltfeld, Murrue Ramius, Lunamaria and Meyrin Hawke, and finally Mu La Flaga. It is questionable, however if Mu will show up, seeing as he's had father issues as of late.

As the ribs and other items start to sizzle, Cagalli emerges from their house, dressed in a flowing green dress with hair ornaments hanging from her hair. Athrun turns to greet her, with a look of defeat on his face.

"Athrun, you weren't fighting with the neighbors again, were you?" Athrun hung his head in shame.

"It's not like that! They weren't my friends! I had to fight with them!" Cagalli sighed yet again.

"What kind of logic is that? If someone makes fun of another person because that person made fun of him, then another person is made fun of. How will that bring peace?" Faced with this wisdom, Athrun could do nothing but start crying. "I can't help it! They reminded me of when Nicol died! And why is it that you can't simply dress up but have to always wear either a business suit or an overly ornate gown?"

Cagalli blushed a little and grew angry. "I'm a girl! Deal with it!"

Stopping at the local drug store, Kira picked up a six-pack of Molson and threw it into the car, into the seat behind him. Checking to make sure that all of his buckles and zippers were in place, he drove off. _I hope Athrun's cooking a lot of food. I'm so hungry all the time due to my anorexic figure._ All Kira could think about at this moment was Flay and how he had hurt her. _If only I could go back and make things right with her. If only I could also save Tolle from dying…._ You see, in the years since the wars, Kira and Athrun and the gang have refused on numerous occasions to see someone for their crying tendencies; especially Kira and Athrun in particular who tend to let things fester too long and end up fighting it out in mobile suits. Finally, Kira began to perk up a little and tried thinking about something else, such as the next mobile suit he would somehow find a way to steal from Zaft that would miraculously look like some version of the Freedom.

Back at Athrun and Cagalli's house, things hadn't changed much since we last left them. Cagalli and Athrun were still crying and yelling at each other things that had little to do with anything that had just transpired, until finally the doorbell rang. Wiping the tears from their eyes, Cagalli went to the door and let in Andy, Murrue, and Mu. Finally the party was about to get started!

"Hope you didn't start eating without us," Mu began "we weren't sure if we'd make it today since we were driving around and I thought for a moment that the mailman looked like he could be my father."

"That's alright," Athrun said "you're actually the first guests to arrive thus far. Kira should be stopping by shortly, and maybe a few other people."

"You look like you've been crying, kid." Andrew noted.

"No, it's nothing. I just got into a small fight with the neighbors."

"You're damn right it's nothing! I lost my arm and my girl and never complained! You start to cry whenever I mention the name 'Nicol!'"

"Now Andy!" Murrue interrupted "Take it easy on the boy! He's just had a hard life, what with his father being a psychopath who almost had him killed and being brainwashed by his father's successor into fighting Kira for the millionth time."

"Oh don't you start!" Andy said angrily. "You were leading me on for a time and then when Mu came back, you dropped me like a hot potato!" Mu became indignant and interjected.

"Excuse me! If I recall, I blew up to save her? I think that tops you losing an arm, for another woman! Strange, I seem to recall not surviving, but I guess I was too popular to die!"

"ENOUGH!" Athrun yelled out. "You are all guests in my house and we're going to have a nice cook-out without anymore talk of mobile suits at all!" Suddenly the doorbell rang again. Cagalli raced to the door to find Shinn waiting impatiently outside. Shinn was wearing a winter hat and a coat, and held in his right hand a pink cell phone.

"I hope that you don't mind, but I parked the Destiny in front of your house."


	3. Chapter 3

Chaper 3: The Far-Away Dawn

Yzak moved the dial on the radio a little bit as he searched for the perfect radio station, before settling on WPST, all the way from central NJ. Driving down the New Jersey Turnpike off the George Washington Bridge, Yzak hissed a little at the prospect of having to attend a cookout hosted by Athrun. Dearka, in the passenger seat, watched a few planes takeoff from Newark Airport, seemingly uninterested.

"Damn that Athrun! He knew that I hate having to drive all the way down the 87 from Woodstock! Who does he think he is, telling me what to do?" Dearka snickered.

"Why don't we just have a cookout of our own then? That'll show him who's in charge, right?" Dearka was obviously not paying attention since he had been thinking about how much his life had changed; first military, then living in Woodstock, NY selling commemoratives from the first Woodstock concert. In the years since the last Bloody Valentine, Yzak and Dearka have become disillusioned with war and mobile suits, and Yzak became something of an anti-war activist, going around Ulster County, NY giving high school pep-talks against aggression and violence. Most high schools have tended to ban him from their grounds since he doesn't seem to naturally be a hippy at heart. Yzak had his scar surgically re-applied to his face in order to serve as a reminder of the evils of war, but it appears that most hippies don't keep war memorabilia. Dearka, on the other hand, has done well selling souvenirs and pancakes out of the same shop.

"Yzak, perhaps you need to calm down. Afterall, you used to be a commander; it's unbecoming!"

"Dearka!" Yzak sniped. "Do you see the tie-dyed shirt that I'm wearing? I put that wretched past behind me! Now this cookout better go well or else I'm gonna kill that guy!" With that, Dearka started playing a CD of Bon Jovi's greatest hits.

Shinn walked into the house, without much of a welcome. Turning to Cagalli, Shinn spat out a few remarks at her.

"Oh, it's the princess! Of course my family didn't survive, but it's alright for you to be wearing a gown?" Cagalli began to fume. Athrun walked over to him a little annoyed.

"Shinn, I had just finished telling everyone that I didn't want any talk or mention of mobile suits, yet you bring one to my house!" From outside, you could hear Jorge yelling "Yo holms! You better move your suit off of my front lawn or else I'm gonna kick your pink apron all the way to Elizabeth!"

"Fine, Shinn," Athrun relented. "Keep the mobile suit there, just don't start anything with Kira! He'll be coming shortly." Shinn hung his head and looked at the pink cell phone in his hand.

"Alright, I won't start anything." With this altercation done, the doorbell rang again; this time it was Jorge.

"Yo Chiquita in the pink apron! There is a foot on my lawn, and my wife is having an issue with your fiesta here!" Shinn stepped forward to handle this.

"Listen, you just back off, alright? People like you who don't know anything shouldn't talk like they do!" Jorge was not impressed!

"Oh, little niña here standing up for the big Chiquita! I don't want to talk to you! Give me the mamacita over there in the big fancy dress!" Athrun again was highly annoyed.

"Do you want to start a fight again? Wasn't one good enough?" Shinn yelled as though talking through the radio of a mobile suit, but Jorge was not a pilot in the least.

"Yo, niña! You with the pink cell phone! Take off the winter hat, it's freakin' July 4th!" Jorge departed once again. It seemed that Jorge had nothing particular to do that day other than bother our group of heroes. Mu turned to Shinn somewhat compassionately.

"You know, I never have seen you actually use that phone…."

"It's my sister's! I only keep it on me to listen to her voice!" Shinn angrily retorted. Andy replied.

"Right, but none of us have ever actually seen your sister alive…." Shinn grew frustrated.

"What are you saying? You think that I carry it around because I like it?" As Shinn said this, a Verizon bill fell out of his coat pocket. Murrue picked it up to take a look at what it said.

"Asuka Shinn: monthly charge of $69.04. Oh, and here's a telephone number: 716-555-2468!" Mu quickly picked up a phone and dialed the number. Shinn's phone was currently off at the moment, so a recording picked up.

"Hi, you've reached Asuka Shinn and his fabulous pink cell phone! Leave a message after the beep and I'll holla back!" This was played for everyone on speakerphone, and Shinn yelled back, furiously.

"All you can do is stand around and make fun! You should talk! Your name is Mu! What was your father thinking when he gave you that name? Were you raised by cows or something?" Mu retorted.

"My father was a tyrant who did what he wanted! He even cloned himself multiple times to gain immortality! I hated him for what he did!" Happily, the phone rang and Athrun picked up, breaking up this really emotional party for a moment.

"Athrun! This is Dearka! How are you buddy!" Athrun smiled and returned the greeting. In the background, Yzak yelled.

"Dearka! Tell Athrun I hate him!"

"Athrun!" Dearka ignored. "We should be coming in within a half hour…."

"I hate you Athrun!" Yzak interrupted.

"We're bringing a blueberry pie with us too…."

"I hate you Athrun!"

"Yzak, shut-up, he can hear you! Anyway, we'll be there shortly."

"We'll give it a shot! OOOOH we're half way there! OOOOH we're living on a prayer!"

"Sorry about that, " Dearka apologized "Yzak has discovered Bon Jovi on this car trip. Catch you later." A quick click, and they were off. The room got quiet again, and everyone sat down and stopped talking for a few moments.

Kira's cell phone rang. Picking it up, Lacus was on the other end.

"Kira! I want to go to Athrun's! Pick me up now!"

"But Lacus, I'm already almost there!"

"After all that I've been through for you! Steeling you a new mobile suit, losing my father…YOU BETTER PICK ME UP!" Kira sighed and hung up. _I don't know the last time that I was able to pick you up!_ Making a sudden U-turn in the road and causing a few giant explosions of cars behind him, Kira accelerated back home. _I should bring the Freedom with me; it's probably the only thing I have that has enough horsepower to carry her!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Into the Abyss

To quickly recap where we are at the moment: Kira is on his way back home to pick up Lacus and switch to the Strike Freedom. Athrun is still grilling burgers and ribs and is currently breathing into a paper bag in order to put an end to his recent panic attack over the death of Nicol. Mu La Flaga, Andrew Walfeld, and Murrue Ramius have just finished having it out with Shinn over his pink cell phone, when call from Yzak and Dearka interrupted the feud. These two are en route down the New Jersey Turnpike towards Athrun's abode. Still no word from the Hawke sisters or a number of other people, but Jorge makes a point to pop up at random intervals to lay down the NJ law. Thus, things can potentially come full circle here, as Shinn almost forgot for the moment that the Gundam: Destiny is standing in wait outside Athrun's home. And since these are some of the most emotional and maladjusted individuals to make there way to the Garden State, things may heat up yet.

Realizing that time was of the essence, Kira, our favorite coordinator, finds himself with a pack of Molson, and a giant hummer, racing back home in order to get into the Freedom and fly Lacus over to Athrun's in time to eat all of the food. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice the giant silo in Kira's backyard that stood about yay high, just large enough to house a Gundam, and had signs on it that read "Caution! Radioactive Material Within! Handle With Care!" Interesting to note that no government agencies have noticed this, as it should have been detected by at least some jet flying into Newark, or maybe even JFK or LaGuardia. Regardless, it didn't matter at the moment.

Kira pulled up to the curb in his hummer, dreading having to deal with Lacus again. _Why did I ever decide to stay with her?_ In his car, he was blasting the Pussy Cat Dolls and turned on the hydraulics in his car…all in a bid to impress his neighbors who already thought him to be a little less than masculine. The choker that Kira wore was jet black itself and hug snuggly to his neck, as one should. Grabbing his man-purse, Kira disengaged the hudraulics on his hummer (which groaned due to the size of such a car), and hopped out to get Lacus.

"Kira! I called you over ten minutes ago! Fool, where have you been?" Kira snapped back.

"Yes Lacus dear. Are you ready yet?" Lacus was dressed in the same dress that Kira had first seen her in, yet it was tearing at the seams and had leather patches sown into it. Lacus had on her ankle a tattoo of a heart with a beam saber through it.

"I just have to put in my grill!" Lacus bent down and put in a set of golden teeth, shinning magnificently, as Kira recalled how they had to sell off 7 Haros just to get enough money for that. Lacus looked as splendid as one could hope to look after spending three weeks in Vegas.

"How do I look, Kira?" The gray roots were visible in her hair, and the sound of splitting threads could be heard coming from her dress. Lacus spent a fortune at one point on plastic surgery, in an attempt to fight aging. This story will not go into more detail on that, sorry, other than that her lips looked like they were taken from Angelina Jolie, and the Botox seemed to be working too well, as Lacus's face was stuck in a hardened smile. Kira refused to answer.

Grabbing Lacus's ripened, plump wrist, he ran to the backyard and looked at the locked silo with the radioactive material warning hanging from it.

"Lacus, give me the keys." Lacus became annoyed and refused.

"Lacus, I need the keys to open the silo." Lacus ignored him.

"Lacus, you faaa…." Kira stopped himself cold, not wanting to continue, and afraid for his life. Wife a body such as he had, Kira feared that Lacus would kill him. She was, after all a coordinator also, and all she had to do was sit on him at the moment.

"Finish that sentence, Kira! You were going to say that I was fat, weren't you?" And with that, Lacus yanked the keys out of Haro's mouth and flung them into the overgrown grass. "Find them now! I prefer the hummer, anyway! I should have married Athrun!"

Back at Athrun's place, not much else had been going on. Lunamaria and her sister had just arrived at the door, and were being escorted in by a disgruntled Cagalli.

"Lunamaria, what a name. Are you the one that I should thank for Athrun returning to Zaft?" Cagalli did not seem to like her at all. Lunamaria did not seem comfortable with this situation. She was dressed in her Zaft uniform, and Meyrin the same. Meyrin spoke up.

"Is Athrun here? I haven't seen him in forever! I'll never forget how he saved my life when Shinn shot us down in the ocean!" Cagalli turned to her with a face of pure animosity.

"I bet you never will, will you? Hey Lunamaria, why don't you go take the sodas and snacks outside? I think Shinn's back there." With that, Lunamaria was happy to get out of this situation.

"Alright, I'll just look for anyone with a pink cell phone!" And Lunamaria was gone.

Meyrin seemed somewhat scared, being left alone with Cagalli.

"I guess that you're his current girlfriend, right?" Cagalli grew more annoyed by the second.

"I'm his wife, you idiot! And don't you forget that!" Athrun suddenly walked into the room and found the two women talking. Mu, Andrew, and Murrue were in another room, watching the Jet game. Athrun walked past Cagalli and gave Meyrin a warm hug, welcoming her, to which Cagalli was not impressed.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Wings of Freedom

"I think we missed our exit, Yzak." Dearka puzzled over a map of New Jersey, as he tried to figure out where they were heading. There didn't seem to be any sign available that identified where they were, but Dearka felt worried regardless.

"Can't you trust that I know where I'm going?" Yzak grew rather impatient, sitting there with his peace symbol hanging to one side and driving without his sandals on. Dearka spoke up.

"Maybe we should call Athrun and find out if we're going the right way?" Yzak immediately yelled back his objection.

"Say what? I am not following directions from that jerk! I am in charge of this trip, and I say when where we're going, not Athrun! Would you rather be in a car with Athrun?" Yzak said this with a bit of spite in his voice.

"Athrun would have at least gotten off at the last exit." Yzak grinded his teeth, and while wearing his tie-dye shirt, touched his hand to the scar that he had surgically put back on his face.

"I hate Athrun! And I hate that guy, Kira! I hate everyone!" Just then, a siren was heard and lights were flashing behind them.

"What do they want?" Yzak said, and he pulled his Volkswagen van over to the side and waited for the state trooper to walk over to the window. Yzak rolled down the window and began to talk.

"What did I do wrong, officer?"

"It seems that you were doing about 90 back there in a 65 mph zone. Can I see your license and registration please?" Yzak snarled and Dearka laughed at how easily a man of peace lost his temper.

Looking through the grass, Kira thought that he had the keys a number of times to the silo yet was fooled repeatedly by Lacus' cigarette butts. Already going on 15 minutes late, and going by DragonBall Z time where 5 minutes can last 20 episodes, Kira realized that he had been looking for a whole 2 minutes, which was certainly 1 minute too long. Getting ready to give up, Lacus began to whine that she was tired of standing and wanted to go already. _We would be gone by now if you hadn't thrown away the stupid keys!_ All hope was rapidly leaving him.

"You know, why don't you just go into the silo from the side, that's what I do?" Kira stopped dead, turning his head and wondering what she was talking about. Tightening his zippers, he stood up to look Lacus in the eyes.

"What are you talking about?" Lacus continued.

"Well, you see, for a coordinator, you were the one that thought it would be good enough simply to make one from old Ikea parts, and well, after a year outside, the silo began to rot a bit, and well, there's a huge hole on the side that you can get into the silo through." Kira walked around to the side and sure enough, saw a hole that he could enter through.

"How long has this hole been here?" Kira asked, not quite believing what was going on.

"About 3 years now. You never seemed to notice, and I liked having my own personal space, where I could…you know…cry over how great things used to be and how romantic and daring you were…before the kids. I go there to cry and…eat." Kira looked inside and found the remains of many chickens. Clearing them out of the way, Kira grabbed Lacus' arm. Turning on a small light, Kira looked up at the ZGMF-X20A Strike Freedom. Still in great condition and waiting to be piloted, Kira hopped on the toe cable and went inside the cockpit.

"Uh, there's not enough room for you in the cockpit, Lacus. I'm going to have to carry you in the hand!" Lacus retorted with a snort.

"Why, because you're afraid that I'd crush you in there?" Kira snapped.

"YES!" Lacus whimpered.

"Well that's not nice!"

Turning on the main power system, the usual ZAFT display came up, and Kira felt at home. A few alterations were made to give the Freedom a better sound system and a cup holder, along with a place to hang some fuzzy dice. With all things ready to go, the Freedom bent down, extended its hand and picked up Lacus. Phase Shift was activated, and the roof of the silo fell away as the Ikea silo broke away around the Freedom.

Back at Athrun's place, Meyrin was catching up with Athrun, much to Cagalli's chagrin. Looking for a reason to get Athrun and Meyrin away from each other, Cagalli called to Athrun.

"Honey, I need you to check on something with me in the basement. Meyrin and Athrun parted from each other, and she went to go talk to Shinn and her sister, who were discussing how much they hated the New York Yankees, as all of our heroes did. Mu was already drunk and was vying for Murrue's attention from Andy, who was going over a new type of Mocha coffee that he just invented. The two were obviously about to go at it, and at one point the phone rang and someone mentioned that Yzak needed someone to bail him out of jail. Cagalli began to talk.

"Athrun, I don't know if I like those Hawkes, they seem a little to close to you." Athrun shrugged.

"None sense, we only worked together, that's all. Besides, you're starting to sound like the whiney Gundam Seed: Destiny Cagalli and not like the strong willed Gundam Seed Cagalli. Calm down and make sure that Andy has some Yogurt sauce, whatever that stuff is. And I am not falling for the old 'oops I spilt some on your dress' routine!" Cagalli sighed and went back upstairs, as Athrun looked up at the Justice, crouched in the basement.

"Old buddy, it looks like there's gonna be a whoopin'!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: A Newtype of Hero

Lacus spat something out of her mouth; an annoyed look was on her face.

"Kira!" She yelled. "There are a lot of bugs that are flying in my mouth!" Kira looked down at her through his monitor, with fuzzy dice pointing straight down, meaning that they were flying.

"Give me one second!" Detaching the Dragoon units from the back of his mobile suit, Kira attempted to kill each and every fly that was harassing his round wife. Lacus yelled even louder.

"Kira! Those wings of yours almost took my head off! Cut that out! Can't you do anything without being such a drama queen?" Kira called back the Dragoons and accelerated the thrust on the Freedom. _Either you want me to fly high enough to avoid the bugs and suffocate, or you want to breath and get bugs in your teeth._ Sighing, Kira finally relented.

"Lacus, I'm going to have to let you into the cockpit." Opening the portal into the Freedom, Kira raised Lacus up and she slid into the cockpit easily. Closing the door, Kira panted for breath as Lacus sat on his lap.

"Kira, this is so romantic! Thank you for letting me inside!" Lacus looked at Kira's blue face as he began to gasp for breath.

"Lacus…please…MOVE!" Lacus grumbled as Kira's face began to look more alive.

"I really should have married Athrun! He would have known how to keep me happy!" Kira turned to her.

"I don't want to hear Athrun's name again! Don't you remember that Athrun and I tried to kill each other?" Lacus sighed.

"Aren't we over that by now? It was like a million years ago!" Kira took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Just sit there and put in a CD or something, ok? We'll be at Athrun's soon." Lacus bit her lip, a little bit upset. For the first time in our long and convoluted story, Lacus began to show some serious compassion for Kira, yet the Freedom's pilot was a little preoccupied as he had to negotiate flying into Newark Airport airspace. Deciding it best not to bother the pilot, Lacus took out a CD and turned the volume up all the way. Kira grumbled a bit as the music blasted in one of his ears, and Lacus began to sing as best as she could.

"I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign!"

"My life is so confusing. I don't know why I am always yelling at people and being a jerk. All I know is that I'm a mobile suit pilot, and as such, it is my responsibility to make lots of time-consuming poses that serve no purpose when I am piloting that thing into the middle of a battle." Shinn began to cry into his hands and Lunamaria took a step back, a little bit shocked by all of what was going on.

"You're not alone, Shinn. I too pilot a mobile suit that makes lots of ridiculously time-consuming poses in the middle of a battle. I mean, is there any reason why I can't be already in the Impulse's battle mode, instead of transforming in front of the enemy? I'm just glad that our enemies always give us enough time!" Shinn looked up, clenching his pink cell phone in his hand.

"I'm always so confused. I want to yell at Cagalli a little. That might make me feel better!" Shinn got up to walk off, with Lunamaria left standing there, watching him walk away.

"Thus is the curse of the Gundams. When will peace come, when?" In the background, faintly you could hear Shinn yelling "how dare you say that to me!"

Yzak paced a little bit, back and forth in his cell. He was growing a little impatient since there was no response since the phone call he made earlier to Athrun.

"Where the hell are they? I swear, if I still had my Zaku…." Dearka recoiled and made a nervous laugh.

"Calm down, Yzak! We're hippies now! We don't blow stuff up!" Yzak relaxed his muscles and turned to Dearka.

"Why are the two of us always together? Are we some sort of comic relief at times? What is it with the two of us?" Dearka shrugged.

"Maybe, because we're pretty boys and such, we have a big enough fan following that whoever is writing us wants to insert us into the story somehow so that readers can be happy that we're here." Yzak groaned.

"What kind of lame excuse is that? It's obvious by now that the writer is just buying time until some big throw-down mobile suit battle in which someone will discover something hidden inside of them!" The two former Zaft soldiers sat down in their cells. Finally, a guard with blond hair and a mask that covered his face came into the room.

"It looks like you guys made bail. You're lucky that your friend here came to get you." Dearka turned to Yzak.

"Dude! That guy looks just like…."

"Shut up, I want to get out of here!" Meyrin Hawke came into view and the two men looked rather shocked to find out that she paid their bail.

"Meyrin, right? I don't think that we know you all that well. Why would you pay our bail?" Meyrin turned to Dearka and sighed.

"Normally, I'm not a trouble maker, but I don't like that Cagalli girl at all. Athrun should be mine." Turning to the masked, blond haired guard, Yzak spat out.

"Do you mind! We're trying to talk here!"

Mu La Flaga felt a twitch as the Jets scored a touch down. Reclining against him was Murrue, with Andy sitting a little away from the two, caressing a bottle of yogurt sauce. Murrue looked up a little troubled.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I just felt…." Andy interrupted.

"FIRST DOWN NEW ENGLAND!" Mu hollered.

"DAMMIT!" Yogurt sauce went flying all over the place.

A light flickered on Kira's monitor. It looked almost like two mobile suits just showed up on his sensors, but then they disappeared. Looking over at Lacus, he saw that she had fallen asleep. With Blondie blasting now throughout the Freedom, Kira looked down and realized that he was within range of Athrun's house. Looking through the monitor, he tried to pin point the house. Suddenly something caught his eye. Going into seed-mode, Kira spoke up.

"The Destiny!" Lacus woke up a little groggy.

"Kira, where's your Spice Girls CD?"


End file.
